Little Celah, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Sixthmonth, 1634 PTS
In my estimation, the best view in the city was undoubtedly that from the side windows of an aero. The skies of Tseludia were a wide-open place, filled only by the tiny forms of other aeros, buzzing around us like insects after the rain, and one could see all across the vastness of the city. I had never seen the cities of my homeworld from such an aerial perspective, but I believed that Tseludia would have been noticeably larger than any I had visited. Even still, I found it difficult to adjust to such images, even more so on this day.
The city, usually painted in the white light of the dome, was now a blazing field of orange. The brilliant glow filled the city, painting the world in ochre hues so intense that other colors were difficult to make out. As I tracked my eyes closer and closer to the sixth district, the glow only intensified until I made out a shifting form between the stacks.
The titan was difficult to see at first, more than half of its form still located beneath the top level. With an armored central body and eight legs emerging radially, the titan really did look like a massive Korlove, if not for the sinuous nature of the legs and the constant flow of flickering miasma around it, as if the machine sat inside of an inferno. Looking at it, I could not help but picture in my head the vast fiend that had roamed my homeland. In terms of size and general shape, the titan was vaguely similar, though in all particular details it came across differently.
As the aero continued to approach, I kept my eyes peeled, looking for any potential movements by other forces. I would be surprised if the clan did not make a move, and the interference of the Justice Office would be a foregone conclusion, though there was a question of how long it might take them to arrive.
“What is our plan?” asked Irid. Her words were filtered through Rachel, who sounded like she was trying to do an impression of the Reth woman. I turned to look at her and my other companion, who seemed excited.
“Rachel’s trying to figure out where all of our targets are, so the plan will be shifting. Just remember the target list and kill them if you see them, and stay out of the titan’s way as much as possible.”
“Juen is mine,” said Karie, eyes ablaze with fervor.
“If you see him,” I said, “you may kill him.”
Normally, in such a circumstance, I would have made sure that familial affection would not get in her way, but given the pair’s history, I felt that Karie would have few issues with a second attempt on her cousin’s life. In fact, of the three of us I was the only one who had never fought with Juen before.
Having answered the question, I returned my attention to the steadily expanding altercation in my vision. It became clear that the titan was smashing into the side of the stack. That must be where Juen and the other Hadal spirit refiner were, I thought. It was good to know, as they numbered among our targets. The opportunity to kill the two and blame it on the titan was perfect for our goals. It would deal a tremendous blow to the Ceirran faction, and force the faction’s focus to internal threats, rather than the sect.
“Do you have her location yet?” I asked, glancing over to Rachel, who was taking up another of the aero’s seats in her Seiyal guise. As far as anyone else was concerned, the Vice-Sect Leader was participating in this mission, but of our own group, only Karie was unaware of her true nature.
Rachel shook her head.
“I’m scouring the area, but no dice yet. Assuming she’s still in this area like she implied, I should be able to track her down fairly quickly. Of course, by the same token, she’ll be able to track us. I’m not exactly being stealthy at the moment.”
I frowned, not enthused about the idea of having my location known by an enemy Shade, of all things. I had plenty of experience with the boundary between hunter and hunted, however, so I was willing to accept this state of affairs.
“Tell me when you find her,” I ordered, now having to crane my head to get a proper view as the aero approached the skydock for a landing. All the berths on the structure had been vacated, their occupants having presumably chosen to flee the area the moment they realized what was happening.
No matter what happened from this point forward, it would likely not be good for any civilians in the area. In fact, I was somewhat surprised that our own aero pilot was willing to go there. In all likelihood, Rachel had simply paid him extra. The galaxy had no shortage of people who were willing to take risks in exchange for money. That was simply the nature of things. After all, what was an unorthodox practitioner if not someone who was willing to take risks in return for benefits? It helped that there was no need to actually land the vehicle.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Thirty feet above the surface of a stack I slid the vehicle’s hatch open as the aero slowly passed, leaping from its side, and being extremely careful how I landed. I rolled as I collided with the ground, instantly rebounding up to my feet and looking around to acquire a greater understanding of the situation. There had been no major changes, at least not yet. Due to Rachel’s awareness we had perhaps been the very first, outside the Celans themselves who knew what happened, so it was no surprise that we had been the first to arrive. However, given the giant plume of orange smoke that continued to billow across the dome, I knew that would not last long.
Moments behind me, Karie and Irid also landed, having fallen slower due to the momentum suppression of Karie’s miasma. Rachel had also ‘fallen’ on her own, though in her case it was more that she had been the last to leave the aero, and yet she was already standing on the ground before I had rolled to my feet.
“Any updates?” I asked.
“She’s close,” Rachel muttered. “I can narrow it down to a total of eight possible stacks, but I need her to take action before I can finally pin her location. Just go and deal with the martial artists while you wait, this shouldn’t take too much longer.”
I nodded, glancing at Karie and Irid.
“You heard her. Juen Hadal should be here somewhere, and we’ll wish to kill him and Keitel before their reinforcements arrive.”
It was inevitable that the situation would expand before it got better. The addition of such an important figure like Juen Hadal always managed to complicate matters, and would, according to Rachel and Karie, force the clan’s enigmatic Supreme Elder to take action. Once he, and whichever spirit refiners he chose to bring arrived, it would be in our best interest to leave Juen alone. Without plausible deniability, killing the man was a liability, rather than a boon.
After the momentary pause, the three of us ran for the bridge, as miasma began to leak from Karie’s body, and smog from Irid’s. I easily outpaced them, trusting in Rachel’s ability to direct them as needed.
Reaching the far side, I flung myself down the stairs, passing down level after level until I reached the area that had been demolished many times over by the titan’s limbs, feeling beneath my feet the structural instability of the ground here. I almost felt as if at any moment, the ceiling could collapse on me like it had back at the 8th district black market. Though, as I realized while approaching deeper into the area, in some parts of the space it already had.
“What are the odds this killed them?” I muttered. Though the question had been rhetorical, Rachel responded regardless.
“They’re genesis spirit refiners, Cyrus. What do you think?”
I sighed, glancing back to the titan, which was standing less than a hundred feet away from my position. It had stalled in its assault on the stack, and was now simply loitering beside the devastation it had caused. Was it waiting to see whether its targets had died, or was the pilot simply worried that the stack might collapse if they dealt more damage? It was hard to guess, but I decided to try and be stealthy and reduce the odds that the titan’s operator might notice my presence. I had been both an ally and an enemy of the Celans during my time on the station, and I was not ready to take mindless risks for little gain.
The development of my refinement method was still limited, and my soul had yet to become as stealthy as it would one day be. Luckily, I was dealing with a Celan, rather than a Staiven. They would be using more mundane senses to scan the surroundings. Those I had an easier chance at passing undetected. I was nothing if not fast.
The Water Striding Steps took form under my movements, as natural to me now as breathing, and I dashed in a haphazard manner across the field of rubber, searching for any survivors. Trying my best to keep out of the titan’s line of sight, I dashed and ducked my way around, traversing ground as quickly as possible in hopes of finding my targets. It did not take long.
Crawling out from under piles of rubble, a heavy-set Seiyal clambered his way though shards of metal and fragmented stone, his body draped in burns that I suspected might have come from exposure to flickering miasma. He had a shifty look, glancing either which way, and his eyes widened as he saw me, before his jaw shifted to a sour expression. I smiled back at him, having already readied my sword.
Due to the sudden nature of this situation, my sword remained under examination by the Venin Group, and I had not been able to take the time to retrieve it. Instead, I held in my hand a sword in a very similar style. It was constructed of a lightweight, durable alloy, and even balanced in my grip similarly to my own sword. However, I knew that deep down it could simply not compare. Internally, I swore to myself never to let my blade out of my sight again. It was a lesson I had once lived by, and yet so quickly I seemed to have forgotten it.
Before me, the man I had identified as Keitel snarled zealously, charging me with his bare fists. A thin smile graced my lips as I charged back, paying no heed to the potential threat posed by the titan that waited just half a stack away.
Tseludia Station’s Construction: [Built using an asteroid as the foundation, Tseludia Station is largely the product of refined minerals which emerged from said asteroid, as enhanced with materials bought and traded with. The majority of the station is composed of stone interlaced with proprietary Staiven alloys, resulting in the general patchwork colored structure that composes most of the station, including the stacks. In parts of the station largely inhabited by aliens with visual sensory organs, paint, wallpaper, veneers, and tiling are all used to hide this ‘eyesore’, as many consider it to be. The construction of the stacks are extremely strong, however, easily able to hold the thousands of tons of weight that each one lifts, even in the enhanced gravity of the station’s spindle. Despite this strength, the immense weight of each stack is such that if one were to fall and crash into another, a chain reaction might occur. This premise has been part of the setting of three distinct apocalypse films in the past decade, created and set within Tseludia itself.]